There was a stormy meeting of the Students' Union that evening. Vilhelm
Rode made the principal speech and caustically emphasised that it took
more than a "Kiss of the hand and a parade bow" to win the hearts of the
Danish people. The new dynasty, the head of which had been abused for
years by the National Liberal press, especially in _The Fatherland_,
who had thrown suspicion of German sympathies on the heir-presumptive, was
still so weak that none of the students thought it necessary to take much
notice of the change of sovereigns that had taken place. This was partly
because since Frederik VII's time people had been accustomed to
indiscriminate free speech concerning the King's person--it was the
fashion and meant nothing, as he was beloved by the body of the people
--partly because what had happened was not regarded as irrevocable. All
depended on whether the King signed the Constitution, and even the coolest
and most conservative, who considered that his signing it would be a fatal
misfortune, thought it possible that Christian IX. would be dethroned if
he did not. So it is not difficult to form some idea of how the Hotspurs
talked. The whole town was in a fever, and it was said that Prince Oscar
was in Scania, ready at the first sign to cross the Sound and allow
himself to be proclaimed King on behalf of Charles XV.
Pages:
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222